Little Three
by ThespianKid
Summary: Saving the world isn't easy, especially when you're still in high school. What happens when you mix three girls, one Prophecy, and a war that could end life as we know it? Watch as three best friends try to conquer their problems when their lives are suddenly accelerated and their time begins to run out. Warnings: OC-Central; HoO doesn't happen; swearing WILL happen
1. Prologue

**So this is a story that I'm revamping. I looked back on it, realized that I still liked the premise and that I'd already written 25k words, and decided to post it again. I spent the last few weeks editing it, so I like it a lot better now. And here we are. Author's Note at the close.**

* * *

 **Title:** Little Three

 **Rating:** T, for foul-language and possibly gruesome scenes

 **Genres:** Adventure, Friendship, Romance, (some) Angst, (hopefully some) Humor, Hurt/Comfort, (some) Drama

 **Summary:** "Three girls, one Prophecy, and a war that could end life as we know it. Saving the world isn't easy, especially when you're still in high school. Watch as three best friends try to conquer their problems when their lives are suddenly accelerated and their time begins to run out."

 **Warnings:** OC-central (but don't worry. There are canon characters and no one dates any of them), very mild Percabeth, suggestive and foul language, violence, and some irritating sulking (trust, I hated writing it, but it comes later on).

Also, this is continuing as if the Heroes of Olympus series never happens. Enjoy!

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 _Chapter One - Prologue_

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The room was quiet, the atmosphere tense. Apollo stood alone at the center of the throne room, nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot, the rest of the Olympians' eyes locked upon him. Even Hades had been invited to Olympus to hear the news, and was staring at Apollo just as intently, for the God of Light had just delivered a prophecy that completely contradicted everything the gods knew about their children. More specifically, everything they knew about the children of the Big Three.

The Great Prophecy stated that the next child of any of the three held the potential to destroy the world. The gods all took this as a sign that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades simply could sire any more children in order to eradicate the risk entirely. But now…

"So," Zeus finally spoke up, breaking the silence, but not the tension, "this _new_ prophecy? It states that we _need_ to have children; exactly what the Great Prophecy forbids?"

Apollo's head was hanging low. Even the God of Prophecy was confused as to how this could happen, and it interfered with his usual relaxed attitude. Having no other answer, Apollo simply nodded his head solemnly.

"Does…" Zeus peered over at his wife, who was looking angrier than anyone else on the council, but at least had the decency to try and hide it. Zeus cleared his throat and continued, "Do any children already born count?"

"No," Apollo answered quickly.

"Why not?"

Apollo tore away from his thoughts for a moment and looked up skeptically at his father. "Is that a real question? Are you asking me _why_ the prophecy is what it is?"

Zeus leaned back in his throne and let out a gruff, "I suppose not."

"I cannot believe this," Hera muttered, turning everyone's attention toward her.

"Hera, I know that this totally sucks for you, but—" Aphrodite tried to explain, but Hera stopped her sentence short.

"I DON'T LIKE IT!" she exploded, rising from her throne. "I FINALLY HAVE MY HUSBAND BACK AND AWAY FROM THE MORTAL WOMEN, AND NOW THIS?!"

"Hera," Apollo warned, "I know that you probably want to blow something up right now, or relentlessly harass the daughter of Zeus. But no matter how much any of us might want to kill them after they're born, we can't."

"Why not?!"

"While I disagree with the way she is expressing her anger," Athena piped up, "Hera does have a point. We should think this through. How do we know that this isn't going to force the Great Prophecy to become a reality? What if we are leading ourselves to our demise?"

Apollo rolled his eyes at his fellow Olympians, wondering why everyone suddenly felt the need to question his prophecies.

" _Because—_ " he stressed, but then the door to the throne room burst open.

"Because of me," the goddess on the other side of the door stated. Hera looked the goddess up and down, studying everything about her: Her loosely-curled caramel locks cascading from the top of her head to her shoulders and down her back; her forest green eyes; the look of pure innocence on her face. It was almost hard to look at her. If Hera even slightly lost her focus, it was as if the goddess had disappeared.

Being the Queen of the Gods, Hera recognized her immediately. She huffed dramatically and threw herself back into her seat, knowing that she wanted to stop the goddess but also knowing that there was nothing she could do.

"Well, now that we are all thoroughly convinced," Artemis said before turning to address the Big Three, "if I were you three, then I'd get to … it."

*Nine Months Later*

It was this day that the Olympians had all been dreading.

It was on this day that the daughter of Zeus was born, and the trio was completed.

It was on this day that the children were presented their weapons to aid them when their time to fight came.

It was on this day that a blessing was given, and it was on this day that three mothers met and understood the dangers that their only daughters were in.

* * *

 **So after this chapter, the rest of the story will rotate POVs between the three main characters. Unfortunately, I didn't get to _entirely_ revamp the story because it was already so long and the POV pattern put me in a little bit of a box, but I'm so much more proud of it now than I was when I started re-editing. So I hope you all like it too!**

 **I'm trying this thing where I make my stories more interactive, so I'm going to be asking questions at the ends of my chapters. This was a pretty straight-forward chapter, so there won't be a question this time, but let me know how you're feeling about the story so far anyway!**


	2. Farewell Flu

**Another day, another update. Thank you to LordAtheriesRain for the review of the first chapter!**

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 _Chapter Two - Farewell Flu_

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(June 16th)

(Ashley's POV)

 _I'm so close_. _I can make it,_ I thought, trying to force myself to take another step. But my breathing grew heavier with every passing second, and my legs began to feel like they had caught fire. My heartbeat accelerated, and beads of sweat rolled down my face, falling silently to the ground.

 _I can do this._ I shook my head in determination and attempted to move forward, but my knees buckled underneath my weight and I collapsed, grunting as my face made contact with the ground. I rolled over onto my back and looked up at the sky, feeling my eyes slowly gloss over as I began to cross the line between life and death.

"Would you stop being such a drama queen?" a voice above me said as I felt a kick in my side.

"Oh, would you just let me pretend to die?" I stood up and brushed the dead grass from my gym clothes, glaring at one of my best friends. "I _hate_ running the mile."

Michelle placed a hand on her hip and shifted all of her weight to one foot — her signature Diva Pose. "Cry me a river. Literally everyone hates running the mile. Except for Alex, I guess." She glanced towards the finish line, where Alex was waiting (impatiently) for us, her arms crossed over her chest.

I rolled my eyes as the two of us began to walk towards the finish. We only had about fifty meters to go, but the gym teacher was crazy if she thought that I was running any more for the rest of the year. "That's because Alex is actually in shape."

Michelle scoffed at me, placing her hands in the back pockets of her sweatpants, accentuating the curve of her hips. "You would be too if you actually went to the gym with us once in awhile."

"Don't you get all high-and-mighty on me. You literally only go to ogle at the football players."

She gave a little giggle, flipping her wavy dark hair over her shoulder. "True, true," she admitted, rolling her R's slightly more than usual.

We finally made it to the finish line, recorded our times with the teacher, and headed over to join Alex.

"You guys do know that this was an exam, right?" she asked, moving a chestnut lock of hair out of her face. "As in, you'll be graded on your performance?"

My and Michelle's faces brightened. "Oh, we remember," I assured her. "We just don't care about the grade, because after this, our summer vacation officially starts."

"And we'll be seniors," Michelle chimed in, getting a dreamy look on her face. "Ruling the school, doing whatever we want, and putting the freshmen in their place."

I nearly choked on the laugh that erupted from my throat. "Rule the school? Oh, sweetie, you're confused. You see, in order to rule the school, you have to be popular, and we're just about the farthest thing from being big names around here."

"Yeah, do you even hang out with anyone that's not us?" Alex questioned, continuing to prove my point.

"Irrelevant," Michelle claimed, waving her freshly-manicured hand to dismiss our argument. "What's really important is that high school is almost over, and that it's time to start applying to colleges." She smiled and fanned herself. "We'll officially be able to date college boys."

"Right," Alex said, no doubt struggling to contain her laughter at Michelle's clearly malaligned priorities. " _That's_ what's important. Not, you know, getting a diploma or anything."

Michelle did a saucy little wink in Alex's direction, her vibrant green eyes twinkling in the hot June sun. "I know what I'm about."

* * *

"Why don't you just let me give you a makeover sometime?" Michelle asked Alex, twirling a piece of Alex's stringy hair between her fingers. I sighed, leaning farther back in the bench that the three of us were occupying, already bored with the conversation. They had the same argument at least three times a week, and neither of them ever changed their stance on the issue.

Alex groaned, clearly already fed up with Michelle. "When will you stop asking me that?"

"Guys, can't we just wait for Riley in peace?" I suggested, looking around for our friend, praying that he would show up before the situation escalated. "He's gonna be really upset if you guys are fighting when he gets here."

"' _How are you guys gonna get through a whole summer together if you can't go five minutes without fighting?_ '" Alex mimicked, doing a spot-on impression of our friend.

"Very funny," a voice behind us said, and we all turned around to see that it was Riley, his curly brown hair wildly sticking out from under his New York Giants baseball cap. "Are you guys ready for the camp?"

Riley Corner, the final member of our little foursome, had somehow managed to convince us to go to this summer camp that he'd heard about. I know that summer camp isn't an ideal way to spend summer vacation for most (the bugs were my main issue), but we promised him, and if we didn't follow through, he would _never_ let us forget it.

I rolled my eyes and together Michelle, Alex, and I exclaimed, "Yes!"

"How many fucking times do you have to hear it?" Alex asked, shooting up from the bench. I playfully shook my head at her, standing up as well.

"Someone's a potty-mouth," I joked, slinging my backpack over my shoulder as we all began our walk back home.

"Fuck off," Alex said, giving me the finger. I stuck my tongue out at her in return, causing her to smile.

"Can you both _please_ grow up?" Michelle sighed.

" _Guys_ ," Riley pressed as he moved to the front of the group, dodging bodies as we entered the busier part of Queens. "I'm serious. You guys _have_ to come with me; you can't blow me off again."

" _Dios mío…_ " Michelle muttered, clasping her hands in prayer and looking up at the sky. "Riley, I'm giving up spending every day at the beach to do this with you, so I swear, if you bother us about this _one_ _more time_ —"

" _Oh please_ , Princess, you're all talk," Alex said and Michelle scoffed, but said nothing back (since Alex was absolutely right).

"Look," I interrupted, attempting to diffuse the situation, "we're coming. Don't worry about it. Now will you hop off my back?"

"Whatever," Riley said crossing his arms and attempting to seem unbothered.

"Don't try to play it off like you weren't pressed to death," Michelle said.

I started to laugh, but then I felt something wet spread across the back of my neck. My hand immediately reached up and clamped onto the spot where I'd been sprayed. That's when I realized that I had been sneezed on.

There were so many people speed-walking past us that I knew I would never figure out who did it, so all I could do was stomp my foot in indignation. There had been an inexplicable flu going around, which I'd ignored it for the most part since my friends and I were still healthy, only occasionally checking to see how our parents were feeling. (Michelle's mom, Alex's mom, and my mom had caught a mild strain of it. They seemed to perk up whenever the three of us came around, but even that small ounce of protection seemed to be wearing thin.)

But this. I _drew the_ _line_ when someone sneezed right on my neck.

"I hate this freaking flu!" I exclaimed, drawing a few confused glances from people on the street.

* * *

 **Just a little chapter to introduce you guys to the main characters and for you to get to know their personalities. The next chapter is a little short (just under 1000 words) so I might do a mid-week update, but I haven't decided yet. After that the chapters get pretty long and hover around 2300 words per installment.**

 **Questions of the Chapter:**

 **1) Who is your favorite character thus far?**

 **2) Who do you think is a child of whom? You already know that they're Big Three, but can you guess whose parent is whose?**

 **See you guys next time! Don't forget to leave a comment!**


	3. Unexpected Occurrence

**Hello! So I apologize in advance for this short chapter, but they all get to be a respectable length after this. I hope everyone had a good Fourth of July, even if you weren't celebrating the American holiday. I'll see you at the bottom!**

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 _Chapter Three - Unexpected_ _Occurrence_

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(June 16th)

(Michelle's POV)

I placed a hand on Ashley's shoulder to comfort her, but my unwillingness to touch her too much just seemed to make her even more upset. She huffed and crossed her arms, not speaking anymore.

 _Oh well,_ I thought. _She'll get over it. At least I tried._

Riley left before we made it back to our apartment complex, while the rest of us continued on and walked into it. We all branched off and went to our respective apartments, promising to meet up outside in a few hours.

I entered my apartment and set my backpack down on the couch, releasing a breath that I hadn't even known I was holding. I let the smile melt from my face before walking down the hall of the apartment and entering my mother's room. She was lying down on her bed, staring, unblinking, at the ceiling. When I walked in she didn't look at me immediately. Instead she continued to stare at the ceiling, causing my heart to skip several beats, but then she finally turned her head towards me and smiled. I let out a breath of relief, the fear that she had died melting away.

"Hi, baby," she said, still smiling weakly.

"Hi, _Mamá_ ," I said back, walking closer to her and sitting at the foot of her bed. "You remember what day it is, right?"

She laughed lightly. "Yes, Michelle. I'm sick, not senile."

"But you _are_ going crazy. I can't understand why you're still going to work."

"I have to take care of you. It's okay. It'll all be okay. I know that you don't believe me, but it'll all make sense soon."

"Okay…" I said, wondering if speaking in riddles was a new flu symptom.

She turned onto her side. "You should start packing. You wouldn't want to upset Riley. He's such a nice boy…" She yawned and then drifted off to sleep. I smiled at her, kissed her forehead, and then walked to my room to pack my stuff.

* * *

*Two Hours Later*

It wasn't long before I was finished packing, checking, and double-checking. I picked up my suitcases and set them down by the door before walking back to my mother's room, only to find her asleep again. I picked up a pencil and a sticky note from her side table and scribbled down a note.

" _Dear Mamá,"_ I wrote, " _I left for the camp. I'll see you after the summer's over, and I'll call you if there's a phone. Take care of yourself. Te Amo, Michelle."_

I set the note down and walked out of her room. Before I made it back to the door, I heard someone knocking on it like they were trying to break it down. I rolled my eyes, striding to the door. I opened it and found Ashley on the other side with her fist in the air. She flashed me a faux innocent smile, her white teeth standing out against her dark skin.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why are you beating my door like it stole something?"

"Maybe it did steal something. You don't know," she joked. "We need to go now. We're already late, and Riley's getting panicky."

I waved her off as I slung my backpack over my shoulder and picked up my suitcases. "Let's go," I said, locking the front door as I left. We walked downstairs and met up with Alex, who was just leaving her apartment.

"Hey, _chica_ ," I said as we caught up with her.

"'Sup," she replied, giving a slight head nod. We walked out of the complex and saw Riley waiting for us with a taxi. He didn't say anything, just frantically waved us over to him. We all stuffed our suitcases into the trunk—a _very_ tight squeeze—and climbed into the back seat while Riley took his seat up front.

"Are you happy now, Riley?" I asked and he nodded. "Finally," I replied, taking my summer homework out of my backpack.

" _Nerd alert_ ," I heard Ashley whisper to Alex, and I shoved her in return.

"Behave," I warned her. It was going to be a long trip

* * *

*One Hour Later*

"What's the cubed root of 64?" I asked the others, my voice broken up by the rockiness of the taxi driving over a dirt road.

"Fuck if I know," Alex replied. Ashley just laughed at me for asking and continued to play with her Marley twists, attempting to alleviate some of her boredom.

"Stop here!" Riley suddenly yelled at the cabbie, causing him to slam on the brakes and fling all of us forward.

"Damn it, Riley!" Alex screeched at him, nursing the part of her head that crashed into the seat in front of her. Riley apologized as he paid the cabbie for the ride, and we all scrambled out of the car, quickly grabbing our luggage from the trunk.

I finally took a look at my surroundings and almost screamed: All I saw was a huge, grassy hill, and I knew in my heart that we were going to have to climb it.

"Wow, thanks for this _awesome_ experience, Riley," I said snarkily as the taxi sped off.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Princess," Ashley told me, pushing forward. We all walked up the hill, dragging our luggage behind us. As we approached the peak of the hill, I saw a huge pine tree with something furry hanging from one of the branches.

"Cute tree," I said, before I saw _it_. " _What is that?!"_

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed it! Big thank you to** **TheBooksAreBetterThanTheMovies for your review. Unfortunately I asked the question that you answered a little prematurely, but I'll come back to you once the three of them are claimed (you had a good guess).**

 **Question of the Chapter:**

 **1) How do you think each of the three will react to being at camp?**

 **2) Who would your, the reader's, godly parent be?**

 **I'll see you guys next time. Don't forget to comment!**


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